(Kristen Houser/ Futurism) — The platypus is, frankly, a weirdo. It’s one of the last surviving species of egg-laying mammals. It has venomous flippers. And that furry body combined with the duck bill? Looks like it belongs on evolution’s blooper reel.
And now another strange element of its biology is intriguing scientists: platypus milk contains a one-of-a-kind protein that could help us fight antibiotic resistance.
For nearly 70 years, antibiotics have been our go-to treatment option for a number of conditions, from gonorrhoea to pneumonia. The more we’ve used them, the more resistant to antibiotics these bugs have become, resulting in some “superbugs” that don’t respond to several types of antibiotics.
That simple fact is putting millions of lives at risk every year in the U.S. alone. In 2016, the United Nations (UN) elevated the issue to “crisis level.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called it a “fundamental, long-term threat to human health, sustainable food production, and development.”
Scientists have gotten increasingly creative in their search for anything that might help humanity fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In 2010, that led to the discovery that platypus milk contains antibacterial properties. (…)